


Under Your Umbrella

by Weevilo707



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/M, Fae Magic, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, barry accidentally keeps coming out on top of the secret fae deals, he is not aware of this, lup is a fae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28302924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weevilo707/pseuds/Weevilo707
Summary: "You dropped this," the woman said, standing at the edge of the alleyway that Barry's umbrella had decided to tumble down when the wind ripped it out of his hands. She was holding the thing out for him, not seeming bothered at all by the rain that pelted down on the two of them. He couldn't see much with the rain and the low light from the streetlamp behind them, but her eyes were bright and the playful smile she was giving him was downright breathtaking.She was by all accounts the most beautiful woman Barry had ever seen in his entire life."Thanks. This wind, ya know?" he said, trying not to sound too awkward as he reached to take the umbrella back. Before he could actually grab a hold of it though, he paused. Making a split second decision he pulled his hand back, trying to look a bit more confident than he felt as he spoke."Actually, you keep it."
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup
Comments: 45
Kudos: 261





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Herbgerblin (TheEverlastingRandom)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEverlastingRandom/gifts).



Barry had always liked the rain.

It was calming, the sound of water pattering against the window and wind howling through the trees, even the occasional rumble of a thunderstorm deep in his chest was a reassuring comfort. Curled up in his room with a good book and a hot drink after a long day, in his opinion, a thunderstorm was the perfect backdrop.

Now, his opinion on the rain changed slightly when he had to walk home in it.

The walk from work to his apartment was not by any means a long walk, about ten minutes when he was taking his time. He could cut it down to five when he rushed it. Which was what he was trying to do now, fighting against the wind and rain that was struggling to rip his umbrella out of his grip.

Not that the umbrella was doing much good at this point. The wind was going so sideways that he was pretty damn soaked through despite his best attempts at blocking it. Even when he could get the umbrella up over him, it never lasted long, the wind whipping it around like a kite. Plus, it was doing nothing for the veritable river that had sprung up in the street. It wasn’t anything dangerous, but the bottoms of his pants and his shoes were already soaked through and uncomfortable.

As much as Barry liked the rain, he wanted to be out of this storm as soon as possible. He really shouldn’t have stayed at work so late. Normally he felt like the walk was too short to justify riding a bus, especially since he’d still have to walk about a block from the bus stop to his apartment. He would have taken it to cut out just some of this walk at this point, if it had been an option.

It was hard to make out much of anything in the darkness as he walked, especially with the rain dampening all of the lights from the street lamps. They were old lights that never did a good job of illuminating the area even on a good day. Still, he’d walked this path enough times that he could tell he was getting close now. One more block and he’d be home and could change into the warmest clothes he owned.

He was passing by the alleyway between another apartment complex and the closed down office building that had the ‘for lease’ sign in its window for almost a year now when the wind picked up again. The temporary relief from being so close to his target had caused him to loosen his grip slightly on the umbrella. It didn’t help at his hands were also pretty soaked along with the rest of him. As the gust of wind hit him the umbrella was neatly ripped from his hold and tumbled off into the alley.

There was a moment where Barry stopped, staring into the darkness and debating on whether to chase after the item or call it a loss and run the rest of the way home. He was leaning pretty heavily towards leaving the thing and running when he saw something move in the darkness.

There was a streetlight by the edge of the alley, and the first thing to come into view was his umbrella. It was closed now, held out towards him inexplicably.

Then, just on the edge of the streetlight’s view, he could see the person holding the umbrella.

She looked pretty well soaked through, although Barry doubted he was much better at this point. Still, long blonde hair was plastered to her head, a shiny looking red raincoat the only thing making it so that her clothes underneath weren’t completely soaked through. It was certainly a smarter choice than the jean jacket he had worn, which was now just more wet fabric clinging to him. The shadows obscured a lot of her features, but her eyes were bright and she was smiling as she held out the umbrella towards him.

She was possibly the most beautiful person Barry had ever seen, despite the darkness and the rain. He was going to keep that thought to himself though.

“You dropped this,” she said, knocking Barry out of his surprised staring somewhat. 

“Right, thanks for uh, catching it. This wind, ya know?” he said, and as if on cue the wind picked up again. Barry had long since given up on trying to keep his glasses dry, he really just needed to get inside as soon as possible.

Despite that, when he reached for the umbrella he found himself hesitating. Glancing over this woman again, Barry wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, but he was certain he would have remembered seeing someone like her around here before. Which probably meant she didn’t live in any of the nearby apartments.

“Actually, you keep it,” he said, coming to a split second decision. That playful smile that had been on her face up until now fell, replaced by a look of confusion as she cocked her head to the side. She had freckles all along her dark skin, and they seemed to almost shimmer as she moved. He was sure that was just a trick of the light and rain though.

“But it’s yours,” she insisted, and Barry shrugged.

“I live right in the apartments there, and I wasn’t exactly doing a good job of keeping a handle on it anyway. You seem like you could put it to better use than I was,” he said, which was true. He would just lose it in the wind again or barely be able to keep it over his head in the last street he had to go back home. Might as well give it to someone who could actually use it.

She smiled, and Barry felt his heart skip a beat. That might have also had something to do with his decision, but he wasn’t going to subject anyone to that.

“Thanks babe, I appreciate it,” she said, and with a single quick motion she swung the umbrella up over her head, opening it in a loud fwump. “How about I walk you the rest of the way to your place, as a token of my gratitude,” she offered. Barry was thankful it was so dark and his face was already so red from fighting against the rain, there was no way on earth anyone could tell if he was blushing or not in this state.

“Sure. I mean, if you want to, why not?” he said, and in an instant she had come out of the darkness of the alley to stand by his side, holding the umbrella up above the both of them now. It was still too dark to make out much, especially with the umbrella blocking the streetlight now. Still, when she held it up it somehow actually managed to feel like it was doing some good, despite having to cover twice as many people as before. “Uh, this way,” he said, starting to lead them the rest of the way towards his apartment.

“So, what brings you out in this sort of weather?” the woman asked as they walked, and it was a fair question. Barry hadn’t seen a single other person out before her, for good reason.

“Heading home from work. It’s a short enough walk that it doesn’t feel justified waiting for a bus, and I don’t have a car,” he explained. She nodded at that, and Barry was trying not to stand too close as to be creepy. It was kind of hard while still staying under the umbrella though. “What about you?” he asked instead, to distract himself from the panic on if he was somehow managing to  _ walk _ wrong.

“What  _ about _ me?” she asked, and she didn’t sound annoyed by the question. He was pretty sure her tone was more teasing than anything, but it was kind of hard to tell.

“What are you doing out in the rain at almost 11:30 at night? I uh, haven’t seen you around before,” he clarified. She seemed to think the question over for a moment before answering.

“Oh ya know, boredom mostly,” she said, like that was a perfectly reasonable explanation for being out in a thunderstorm in the middle of the night. “I guess you could say I’m new to the area,” she added, and that made sense.

“Well, we’re right by the college, so it’s a pretty safe area. Still probably not like, the kind of place where you should be spending a lot of time in dark, rainy alleys at night though, just to be safe,” he added, and there was a pretty big part of him that had no doubt that this woman could handle herself. Certainly she could do better than he would, but it still seemed like a thing one shouldn’t test.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, not actually sounding all that concerned. They’d reached the steps of his apartment now, and even though Barry should have been rushing in as fast as possible he found himself turning back towards his surprise escort.

“Well uh, this is me,” he said, feeling dumb as soon as the words were out of his mouth. The beautiful woman still much too close to him just smiled though, not seeming bothered by his awkwardness in the slightest.

“Right, well maybe I’ll see you around again sometime, bluejeans,” she said, turning with a wave to start to walk back down the street. Barry was left standing in front of the apartment for a few seconds as his brain tried tried to process that sentence.

“Bluejeans?” he asked, quickly realizing it was supposed to be a nickname. “Uh, right back at you redcoat? Wait, no that makes it sound like you’re an old timey British soldier. Red jacket? Robe? Red Robe,” he stumbled, and at some point she had stopped walking away, turning back towards him and watching his fumbled display with an absolutely mystified expression.

Then she doubled over, holding her stomach and letting the rain drench her all over again as she laughed. Something about the sound seemed like it could quite literally take his breath away.

“S-shit,” she managed after a moment, standing up and swinging the red umbrella back up over her head. It was hard to tell if she was wiping away tears or rainwater when she rubbed at her eyes. “What did you settle on, red robe?” she asked. Barry shrugged, kind of wishing he could die.

“Unless you can think of something better?” he said, and she quickly shook her head.

“Nah man, that’s perfect,” she insisted, and Barry did not think it was very perfect. He wasn’t about to argue with her though. “Later then Bluejeans,” she said with a wink this time, and Barry nodded.

“Yeah, alright, later Red Robe,” he replied, trying to sound more confident than he felt. He was pretty sure she was laughing again as she walked away, but he didn’t stick around to watch. For one thing, it would be creepy, and for another he was just about soaked through to his bones at this point.

Heading inside he thanked every star that his apartment was on the first floor so that he didn’t have to fight with the janky elevator and prolong his wet suffering for even a second longer. Somehow it was even worse feeling once he was inside and not being actively rained on.

As soon as he was inside he changed into dry pajamas, wrapping himself up in the biggest blanket he had. He halfway considered getting a warm shower, but he was so tired of being wet right now, he told himself that could come later. It was late enough that no one could fault him for collapsing into bed almost immediately anyway.

Despite himself, he found his mind wandering back to that woman. He hoped she got wherever she was going okay. Maybe he should have offered to walk  _ her _ home instead? No, that would have been creepy, she didn’t know him and probably didn’t want strange men following her to her house at night.

Well, the chances of him ever running into her again were slim, and he hadn’t even gotten her name. Which was fine. He didn’t know her, so it should be a simple thing to put the incident out of his mind and move on.

And for a while it was. Sure for the next day or so his mind found itself wandering towards hoping she got home okay. The ridiculous nickname she gave him and the even worse nickname he’d managed for her, the sound of her laugh, but it wasn’t too long before he was too busy to really focus on it. He had a job to do and a cat to take care of and a whole slew of Being an Adult that quickly ended up distracting him from all that.

Even still, the next time it rained Barry found his mind wandering back to that encounter again. At least he had a good excuse this time, considering that was the strangest thing to ever happen to him while it was raining. He was just thankful that this time he was inside. It was the weekend so he’d had the day off and didn’t have to worry about walking through the rain without an umbrella. He still needed to replace the one he gave away, but he kept forgetting every time he went to the store.

Because he was inside he could actually enjoy the rain this time. It was a nice storm too, he could already hear it starting to come down in sheets. Maybe it was a little strange, but even though he kept his blinds closed most of the time, he liked to have them open during storms. Watching the rain come down and the wind battering around the trees outside of his apartment was soothing.

Barry did a double take when he opened the blinds this time though, a spot of red visible underneath a nearby streetlight. It wasn’t quite as late as it had been when he’d been outside last time, really only about 8 o’clock, so despite the rain and wind it wasn’t quite as pitch black as before. Still, it took a moment of squinting and staring like a creep before he could be sure.

That was her though, in that same red coat, holding his umbrella.

There was absolutely no reason for him to go outside right now. In fact, there were a lot of very compelling reasons why he shouldn’t go outside. It didn’t even seem like this lady was particularly waiting for him, or anyone for that matter. She mostly seemed like she was just hanging out and enjoying herself.

As such, Barry felt a bit like an idiot as he quickly threw on his coat and ran outside, but not so much like an idiot to keep from doing it.

“Uh, excuse me?” he called, trying to shield his face from the rain with his arm and pretty much failing at that. Immediately her head whipped towards him, and no smile had the right to be that breathtaking.

“Bluejeans! I thought I’d see you again,” she said, actually sounding excited to see him. Which if he was being honest wasn’t what he expected in the slightest.

“What would you have called me if I decided not to wear bluejeans today?” he asked, because it was the first thing to come to his head and he didn’t actually have a  _ reason  _ to come out here and talk to her. She seemed to think it over for a moment before shrugging.

“Not sure, but you  _ are _ wearing them, so it’s not a problem,” she said, and Barry couldn’t help but smile sheepishly at that.

“I like bluejeans,” he said, since that was the simple truth of it. It was quiet for a moment then, and Barry could feel the awkwardness starting to set in. “But uh, I was just wondering if you were okay? I saw you standing out here from my window and well, there isn’t like a bus stop or anything for another block. It’s none of my business what you’re doing but I just wanted to uh, make sure everything was okay,” he managed.

“We’re all good here dog,” she said, and it was with such an ease and casualness that Barry fully believed her. “Thanks for the concern though, I appreciate it,” she added, and Barry shrugged a little helplessly at that.

“If there’s one thing I’m good at it’s being concerned,” he said, getting a chuckle out of her. There was something almost ethereal about her laugh, and Barry wasn’t sure if it was just this huge crush he had somehow developed in the span of two conversations saying that or not.

“You’re getting soaked,” she said after a moment, an amused tone to her voice. Somehow Barry had barely noticed as the rain kept pounding down on him.

“Right, shit sorry. I uh, I should get going. If you’re good,” he said, starting to back up. He wasn’t able to get far before she stopped him though, a somewhat distressed look on her face.

“Wait!” she called, making Barry stop in his tracks. “Here, before you go,” she said, reaching into one of the pockets of her long red raincoat. Barry barely had time to process what she was doing before he scrambled to catch the small item thrown at him. Somehow he managed not to drop it despite the rain, taking a moment to inspect it in surprise.

“A weasel?” he asked, looking over the shiny pin. It looked like costume jewelry, not really his style, but a smile was fighting its way onto his face none the less.

“A mongoose, come on try to keep up bluejeans,” she said, chastising him like it was obvious.

“Right, of course,” he said, not feeling as self conscious as he normally would in this kind of situation. He just got the feeling that this person wasn’t actually judging him for any of his awkwardness, it was a nice change of pace. He flipped over the pin in his hand again, running his thumb over the bumpy fake gemstones before looking back over at this woman. “Uh, can I ask why though? Not that I’m not grateful,” he added quickly.

“To pay you back for the umbrella. Now we’re even,” she said. Barry blinked in surprise at that.

“Oh, you didn’t have to- it’s just an umbrella,” he insisted, because he hadn’t done it expecting anything in return.

“And it’s just a pin. See, equal,” she insisted, and Barry couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at that.

“Yeah alright, I guess that’s fair,” he said, and then an idea came to him. It must’ve shown on his face, because he could see her giving him a questioning look from under the brim of his old umbrella. “Oh actually, you have a minute? I’ll be right back,” he said.

“Sure, I ain’t got anywhere urgent to be,” she said, a small bit of hesitance in her voice, which Barry couldn’t really blame her for. Even still he couldn’t help but smile as he quickly started back towards his apartment.

“Cool, back in life, five minutes, not even,” he insisted, running the rest of the way back. It wasn’t until he was inside again did he realize how soaked through he’d gotten, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much. Heading into his apartment, it didn’t take him too long to find what he was looking for, and he only hesitated a moment when he grabbed it.

Maybe it was weird, he didn’t even know her name after all, and she didn’t know his. This was only the second time they spoke and he’d never even seen her except for on dark, stormy nights. He had a feeling there were some children's fairy tales that would rather disapprove of his current actions.

Despite the hesitance, Barry figured he’d already come this far. Plus, it would look  _ worse _ if he ran off like that and came back empty handed.

Running back out, she was still waiting under the dim streetlight where he’d left her. From what he could make out of her face she was watching him curiously as he came to a stop in front of her. Instead of waiting for her to ask and risk this whole thing getting even more awkward, Barry held out the item for her.

“The lights in this part of town are pretty shitty, especially when it’s raining. I’d figure you’d get more use out of it than I would,” he said, holding out the flashlight. It was a pretty adorable thing, the front of it shaped like an owl. Despite that it was surprisingly bright, but he hadn’t turned it on yet. He didn't want to accidentally shine it in her eyes like an asshole. Even in the dim light though he could see the look of surprise on her face as she carefully took it from him.

“I  _ just said _ we’re even, and you go and give me something  _ else? _ Come on Bluejeans, you can’t do this to me!” she complained, and even though she sounded incredibly indignant about the whole thing, she didn’t sound particularly  _ upset. _ He was pretty sure she was smiling.

“You know my name isn’t actually Bluejeans, right?” he asked, because there was no reason not to have introduced himself by this point.

“Yeah, I could have hazarded a guess,” she said, and yeah she was  _ definitely _ smiling as she inspected the flashlight. “Gonna keep calling you it for now though, alright? Let’s keep this casual,” she added, and Barry blinked at that. Definitely a little weird, but he nodded after a moment.

“Uh sure, what was it? Red robe? That’s not anywhere near as snappy as Bluejeans,” he said, his heart fluttering when she laughed again. She seemed to actually think it over after a minute though.

“How about Ella?” she asked, and Barry raised an eyebrow at that.

“Ella?” he asked, because something about the way she said it made him feel like that definitely wasn’t her actual name.

“Yeah, like umbrella,” she explained, and Barry couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Shit, yes okay that works. That’s perfect,” he said, sure there was a huge, stupid smile on his face still.

He was pulled out of the moment by a large peel of thunder over his head, bringing him back to the reality of the situation. The fact that he was standing out in the middle of a downpour without even an umbrella over his head, giving away any item that might be the slightest bit useful in order to prolong the conversation just a little bit longer.

“Sorry, I uh, I should probably get inside for real this time,” he said, ‘Ella’ nodding quickly.

“Right, get inside before you go and give yourself a cold Bluejeans,” she said, and he couldn’t argue with that.

“I’ll see you around?” Barry asked, trying not to sound too hopeful, in case this was a one time thing. He wouldn’t blame her if it was, with how weird this all was. He was a little surprised (and more than a little relieved) when she nodded emphatically.

“Of course, I need to get even for this damn flashlight now,” she insisted, tossing the flashlight up before catching it again. Barry smiled, and a part of him wanted to argue against that, but well, if it was an excuse to see her again…

“Alright then, see you around Miss Umbrella Ella,” he said, and it felt awkward coming out of his mouth, but she laughed all the same.

“Right back at ya Bluejeans,” she said. As he headed back towards his apartment he looked over his shoulder, and he could see her walking away now, the umbrella in one hand, the flashlight lighting her way in the other. He didn’t watch her go far, ducking inside and immediately getting out of his soaking clothes once he was in his apartment. Instead of changing this time he got into the shower, wanting to warm up more than he wanted to be dry. He made sure to put the mongoose pin safely on his dresser beforehand, where it wouldn’t get lost.

He probably should have been annoyed at the rain and the cold, having to stand out in a storm when he could have been comfortable and dry in his own home.

But he couldn’t stop smiling, feeling downright giddy at the thought of seeing her again. Maybe it was silly to be so far gone after just two conversations, but that didn’t change the fact that he very much was.

As cheesy as it was, there was just something  _ magical _ about her.

And Barry had always loved the rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be one chapter but I ended up getting very into the idea and now it's going to be two. Probably two. We'll see. The excellent Herbgerblin wanted fae blupjeans for their borth and i am having _so much fun_ with this idea. 
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

Lup was in trouble.

It really had just started because she was bored. Bored and it was raining and that was always when it was safest for her to go out. There weren’t too many people around and the dampness and dark kept her muted enough to blend in without too much issue. As long as she kept to the shadows, not drawing too much attention to herself, not spending too much time with any single person.

It was supposed to be such an easy exchange too. She did a favor for the human who lost his umbrella, and then he owed her. She wasn’t planning on doing anything  _ cruel, _ and it wasn’t a big enough favor to even warrant anything like that. Just something fun, like his matches never lighting right or his jeans always fading too fast. Sure, she was a fae, but she didn’t think she was too much of an asshole.

But he didn’t take the umbrella. No, he fucking flipped the script on her, and instead insisted she keep it. As a  _ gift. _ A pretty damn selfless one, as far as she could tell. That changed everything.

Now  _ she _ owed  _ him. _

Still, even then it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. It took her a while to figure out the perfect thing, but an umbrella wasn’t a particularly valuable object. She wasn’t even going to give him anything that far outweighed it to tip the scales back in her favor, just to show her respect at being outdone like that. She could recognize clever where it was due.

The pin would get them back on an equal playing field, and then everyone could go home happy.

But instead of that he was running back inside, and it didn’t matter that she could see without any issue in the dark. It was the intent behind the gift that determined its value, that and her own personal proclivity towards it.

And  _ damn, _ that was a cute flashlight. It took more control than she would like to admit not to snatch it from him as soon as he held it out to her.

And just like that, she was back on the losing end.

The next time she showed up, heavy rainstorm keeping that fire inside of her nice and dim, Lup was sure she had him. She could appreciate his cunning for sure, it had been a while since anyone had really challenged her like this, but this was where it ended.

She wasn’t sure which window in the big apartment building was his, so she shined her flashlight all along the wall until he eventually came out.

“Hey, were you… trying to get my attention?” he asked, and Lup was fairly sure he hadn’t gotten around to replacing the umbrella he’d given her. Maybe he had tried to, but she would bet money that he would forget whenever he went to the store, or if he tried to buy it online something would happen to go wrong with the shipping. Such was the risk with gifting to the fae.

“Maybe,” she said with a grin and a shrug, quite enjoying the flustered look on his face at that. Sure, it wasn’t exactly hard to fluster humans, but this one was clever.

And sweet, but Lup was not thinking about that.

“I got something for you, to make up for the flashlight,” she explained, and he actually looked surprised by that. She considered that maybe he really didn’t realize what he was doing, that all of these gifts just happened to be spur of the moment decisions on his end, not someone aware of exactly how dangerous the thing they were dealing with was.

“You didn’t-” he started, but she shook her head before he could even finish.

“Ah ah ah, none of that,” she insisted, and when she pulled the folded up piece of clothes out from under her own raincoat he didn’t seem to question where it had come from. More evidence that he knew exactly what he was doing. That he knew exactly what  _ she _ was doing.

“Here, since you keep running out into the rain and you’re bad at umbrellas,” she said. She watched as the human inspected the waterproof fabric, taking a moment to identify what it was. It was bright red, and she’d debated hard and long on the color, maybe putting more care into this than she needed to. Blue had tempted her because of the nickname, but in the end she couldn’t resist making it  _ her _ color.

“Did- did you get me a poncho?” he asked, throwing it over his head. Lup wasn’t surprised that it fit, she had made sure that it would. She also made sure that it would last and do a damn good job of keeping him dry.

“Well, now I feel a lot less weird about giving you this,” he added, and Lup watched in dumb surprise as he pulled out a pair of soft looking fingerless gloves. They were red and some of the yarn sparkled, when she took them from him and pulled them on they went almost halfway up the front of her arms. “Sorry if it’s weird, I saw them and thought of you,” he said, and he sounded genuine. It was sweet and earnest and did something weird to her chest.

Oh this.

This was  _ bad. _

“Oh, this isn’t over Bluejeans,” she said, trying to look and sound determined and not flustered. “I’m gonna get the better of you next time, mark my words,” she added, and he laughed.

“Is this- is this a game now?” he asked, sounding befuddled but still delighted.

“It’s  _ so much more _ than just a game,” she insisted, because it was. She knew that and there was no way he couldn’t have figured this out by now. He was smiling because he knew he was  _ winning. _

“Okay, that’s- sure, you’re on,” he said, and even though Lup should probably be afraid here, she was risking getting deep in debt to this human, she was grinning in excitement.

And it kept going from there. Every time it would rain Lup would practically dash out of the door, making sure to grab whatever perfectly prepared gift she had that would for sure put her on top this time. After a while Taako would stop trying to caution her and would instead roll his eyes at her enthusiasm.

The human would meet her outside, barely seeming to care about the rain but always wearing the poncho she’d given him.

She’d give him a glasses cleaner, he’d give her a bracelet. Lup would maybe stay around and talk to him longer than was strictly necessary, but she wasn’t going to know how to win if she didn’t know what he liked.

The next time she’d give him a perfectly cleaned and preserved bird skull, and he’d hand her an antique lighter. She came with a wallet and then a pocket watch, both ridiculous and matching the jeans he seemed to wear so often. He responded with earrings and a small glass bird. None of it ever got much higher than small bobbles like that, but it wasn’t stopping. Lup didn’t  _ want _ it to stop.

Storming into the home she shared with her brother, Lup immediately flopped down on the couch. In here there was no need for a disguise or to dim herself, her raincoat softening and unfurling into a long robe, and she felt like she was almost burning with how bright she was. She quickly rolled over so that it was a little less noticeable.

“What was it this time?” Taako asked, an air of amusement in his voice. Instead of properly responding Lup stuck out a hand, holding the latest gift out for her brother to see.

“What… what _is_ it?” he asked after a moment, and to be fair that had been her response too. She still huffed, turning back around and holding the strange little cylinder to her chest.

“Called it a Slap Chop. You put food you wanna cut under it and smash the top, it’s faster than using a knife,” she explained. She could see the frown on her brother’s face deepen, the furrow in his brow as he inspected the item with new eyes.

“Those cuts would be terrible. They would look like shit,” he said, and Lup nodded.

“I know!” she said, and she definitely sounded upset, but she knew it wasn’t for the same reason Taako might think. Or might just be hoping at this point.

“And what did you give him?” he asked. Lup sighed, not meeting his eyes.

“Gold coin. Enchanted it, as long as he keeps it on him he shouldn’t ever have too much of a problem getting lost,” she muttered. She hadn’t told him that was what it did, and yet he still seemed so enthusiastic about the little trinket.

“Well, that should settle it then! His gift was shitty and yours ruled, you win debts squared no more worrying about this fool no more,” he said. Lup whined, rolling back over onto her stomach, so careful not to damage her latest gift.

“No, it’s perfect and I’m going to use it every time I cook,” she insisted. She couldn’t blame her brother for groaning loudly at that, but she could still yelp in annoyance when he sat heavily on her legs.

“Okay, what’s gotten into you? That things a hunk of junk and you know it,” he insisted. Lup twisted around, pulling her legs out from under him and almost managing to knock him off the couch in the process. Not quite, which was a bit disappointing, but it was whatever.

“Nothing, I just happen to like it,” she tried to insist. It was pretty easy to see that Taako didn’t believe her. Even though they were twins there were some pretty stark differences between them. While Lup looked like fire, freckles that glowed like embers, hair a near white hot yellow flame, all signs of the internal fire that shaped her magic, Taako took after the water. A sheen passed over his skin like light on the bottom of a sandy shore, and his long hair floated and shifted around him as if suspended in water. Right now, it was not the normal calm ebb and flow she was used to, whipping about like a storm was starting to brew.

He was worried about her, and he really sucked at hiding it.

“I just happen to like  _ him,” _ she muttered, speaking quiet enough that she could almost believe she hadn’t said it.

“Shit…” Taako said, the word barely a breath, but Lup could understand the feelings behind it well enough.

This was scary. More than that, it was  _ dangerous. _ There was a reason why the tales humans had about fae made them so cunning, tricky things who always managed to twist a situation so that they were on top. They  _ needed _ to.

Once someone got the upper hand that was it. They could do what they wanted with them, use their magic however they wanted. That was just for being on the losing end of a deal too.

Falling in love? That was so much  _ worse. _

“I could go next time,” her brother said after a moment, a hurried, almost panicked tone to his voice. “Could fix this up real nice and neat if you wanted,” he added, and there was a part of Lup that wasn’t even sure how true that was. Still, she would never doubt Taako when he put his mind to something, especially if it was to protect her. She was the same way for him after all.

He said if she  _ wanted _ though, and that was just the thing. The most dangerous part of all of this.

“No, don’t do that,” she grumbled, because that really was the last thing she wanted. She didn’t want to stop seeing him. She didn’t want this to end. She didn’t even want it to stay with these quick meetings in the rain.

She wanted  _ more. _

“Okay just… be careful Lulu,” Taako said softly, and she never doubted that he would let her make her own decision, but it was still a relief to hear. She didn’t want to do this without his support, even with how nervous he still clearly was by the prospect.

“I will,” she assured him, and she intended to at least try and follow through on that. She just wasn’t sure how effective any of her attempts would actually be.

The next time she went out to see her human (and oh, when had she started thinking of him like that?) it would be an understatement to say it was raining. It was coming down in sheets, the chill of winter causing some of it to freeze, not quite hail or snow but still a miserable deluge. There was a part of her that was worried that maybe this time he wouldn’t come out. It’d be too much, or he might just not see her.

Of course he was running out barely a few minutes after she arrived, wearing the poncho she’d gifted him, a delighted smile on his face.

“Hey,” he said, and there was a tone to his voice that made Lup want to be hopeful. Even if she was right though that didn’t mean this couldn’t end terribly, that it wouldn’t backfire. It was practically designed to backfire.

“Hey,” she replied back, pretty sure her own voice had that same hopeless tone to it. “Sorry, this is a bad one, I won’t keep you out here long,” she added. It really wouldn’t take long this one, she just needed to get it done with as fast as possible. She could worry about the after effects later.

“Yeah, about that, is it okay if I go first this time?” he asked, and Lup paused at that. Ever since that second meeting she had been the one to give her gift first.

“Why not?” she said with as casual a shrug as she could manage. She hadn’t been able to predict a thing he had done so far, she didn’t see why trying to now would do anything.

“So I’m not really sure if this counts as like… a  _ gift _ for our game, but I was wondering if you wanted to come inside? I could order us pizza or take out or whatever you’d like,” he asked, nerves evident in every inch of his form. Lup was doing her best not to look as speechless as she felt, before finally nodding.

“Yeah, you know what? That sounds nice,” she said, and the grin that stretched across his face at that made her heart want to skip a beat and she could feel the fire burning inside her flair even brighter, despite the rain and cold damping her down.

“Really?” he asked, an excited and slightly disbelieving tone to his voice. “That’s- great! Uh, let’s get inside then. It's terrible out here,” he said, and Lup couldn’t help but laugh at that, at the obvious and adorable enthusiasm. It was cute.  _ He _ was cute, and she was so, so far gone.

She followed along, and it wasn’t a far distance at all. His apartment was pretty close to the front of the building, and she tried not to show her nerves as she closed the umbrella and shook off the rain as she walked inside.

“Sorry if it’s kinda a mess, most of the time I get home from work and just sort of crash,” he apologized, and she shrugged. She wouldn’t consider it that much of a mess. It looked homey, lived in. Books and papers and little odds and ends stacked up on any available surface.

“It’s chill, you should see our place,” she said, because her and Taako were just as bad. She took a moment to look around the room as Barry was pulling off the rain poncho, her eyes quickly falling on a shelf by the front door. There weren’t a lot of items on it, but she did recognize every single one there. She didn’t realize he’d caught her staring until he spoke up.

“I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose any of them,” he explained, sounding sheepish. It was obvious how much care he’d given every gift she’d gave him, just as much care as she’d given his.

“Lup,” she said suddenly, not looking at him. Not even sure if he would realize she was giving him her gift.

“What was that?” he asked, some clear confusion in his voice, which was fair. Lup took a deep breath, forcing herself to actually turn back towards him as she spoke again.

“My name’s Lup,” she said. In response he smiled brightly, holding a hand out.

“Barry Halwinter,” he replied, like it was the easiest thing in the world. He was smiling in a way that was sickeningly sweet, but after a moment that smile started to dip the slightest bit. “You’re uh, you’re glowing? Sorry, I don’t mean like, you’re beautiful, which you are! Just that like, you’re also, literally, glowing,” he managed to stumble out.

And that reaction wasn’t quite what Lup expected. He sounded… more surprised than she thought he would be. Her disguise wasn't completely down yet, she would still mostly look human, but she was also blushing and she was sure her freckles had started to take on the appearance of burning stars by now.

“Yeah, is that a problem?” she asked, partially curious on what he’d say. Definitely wanting to see what kind of conclusion he’d make, if he somehow hadn’t figured it out already.

“Well, no, I guess it’s not,” he said after a moment. There was a beat, and Lup waited for him to say something else,  _ anything.  _ “So, you can take your coat off if you want. What’re you feeling for dinner?” he continued finally, breezing past the whole ‘glowing’ thing with barely a stumble.

“Barry,” Lup said, and there was some giddiness in her chest there despite the situation at actually knowing and getting to  _ say _ his name. He stopped in his tracks, turning back towards her with a curious expression.

“Sup?”

“Do you know what I am Barry?” she asked, and from the way he chuckled nervously she had a pretty good feeling of the answer before he actually spoke.

“Uh, to be totally honest no? Mostly I’ve just been thinking you’re too good to be true, but now I’m worried that might be a bit more  _ literal _ than I thought,” he said. There was a long moment where Lup just stared at him, and then she couldn’t help it, bursting out laughing. “Lup?” he asked, watching with clear concern as she moved over to take a seat on the closest chair.

_ “You’re _ too good to be true,” she managed finally, a stubborn grin on her face even as she stopped laughing.

It was stupid, but all this time she had thought he knew exactly what he was doing. That was part of what made this all so terrifying. That no matter how much she was enjoying this, how much she had truly fallen for him, there was still the fact that he was doing it on purpose. That he was making sure she had to keep coming back.

But no. He just liked giving her presents.

He just liked  _ her. _

“Hey, so this might be a little forward, considering I’ve only known your name for about a minute,” she started, and he chuckled a little at that. “But could I… kiss you?” she asked. She couldn’t help but delight a bit in the shade of red his face turned. He couldn't quite glow the same way she could, but damn if he didn't come close.

“Uh, y-yeah,” he said, and Lup grinned at that. Standing back up, she cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss.

It was quick, and despite that Lup felt like she was near about on fire. She sighed into the kiss, letting the last of the disguise magic fall away as she did. When she pulled away Barry still had his eyes closed for a moment, so she could appreciate the quick double take he did as he opened them again.

“Well now I just feel dumb,” he said after a moment of dumbstruck staring, and Lup’s grin widened even more than it already was. “You’re not human, right?” he asked, like he just had to make sure.

“I thought you knew!” she insisted, and Barry had started laughing now as well.

“I should have! Looking back I should have figured it out by now!” he said, and they were both grinning stupidly by now. Lup really wanted to kiss him again, but she forced herself to wait. “I just, I already thought you were absolutely otherworldly, I didn’t think it would be literal,” he admitted.

“Shit,” Lup said, feeling herself burning brighter, wanting to cover her face to hide her embarrassment. “You said something about pizza?” she managed after a moment, and Barry’s own face lit up at that.

“Right, I almost forgot. What do you want, have you ever actually had pizza?” he asked, pulling out his phone and going over to sit on the couch. Lup followed, sitting maybe a bit closer on the couch than she needed to.

“Nope, surprise me,” she said, and he nodded at that.

“Okay, we could get a couple different toppings then, in case there’s something you don’t like,” he said, and as he was tapping something out on his phone he paused. "Oh wow, you're uh, you're warm," he added, and it was hard to tell how he felt about that.

"Too much? I can move away," she offered, but he quickly shook his head.

"No, it's good. More than good, after being out in that storm," he said, and Lup grinned at that.

"Awesome," she said, maybe moving a little bit closer at that. She supposed she could blame it on wanting to look over his shoulder at what he was doing on the phone. It seemed like he was finishing up with the whole ordering process. A crack of thunder sounded outside, and she saw his attention turn towards the storm outside.

“When do you need to leave? Does it have to be before the rain stops?” he asked, and Lup found herself pausing at that.

“It helps the disguise, makes it so that I don’t burn as bright, ya know?” she said, and Barry nodded at that.

“I’ll open some curtains and keep the weather up on my phone. It seems pretty hard put I don’t want it to stop suddenly and for you to be trapped here,” he said, finishing with what he was doing on his phone and standing up to do just that. He didn’t even seem to notice the befuddled confusion on her face.

“You… you  _ don’t?” _ she asked, and Barry turned back to her at that. Sure, he didn’t know before, but he did now, and she  _ knew _ this guy was smart. “You could though, you know that, right? It’s- you know my name. I can’t get out of this trade, and I don’t even  _ want _ to anymore. You could keep me here, as long as you’d want.”

“Well, ignoring the fact that that would be kinda fucked up, that also seems uh, pretty fast? How about we just… have dinner, and we see where it goes from there?” Barry offered, and Lup couldn’t help but smile a bit at that.

“Yeah, alright. That… that sounds great. Let’s do that,” she said. Glancing back out the window though, she could feel a frown tugging at her face. She didn’t want to have to wait to come back until the next rain. “I know what you just said about taking it fast and all, but I  _ could _ set up something in here so that we wouldn’t have to wait until it, ya know, rains,” she said, and she didn’t miss the way he perked up at that.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say no to that,” he said, and Lup grinned brightly, taking that as permission enough.

“Great! You have a fireplace?” she asked. There was a disappointed look on Barry's face for a moment that told her the answer to that was ‘no.’

“I have an oven?” he suggested. Thinking a moment, Lup nodded sharply.

“That should work,” she said, getting a laugh out of Barry. “Let me know when pizza’s here!” she added, quickly running into the kitchen.

“Sure, I guess I’ll look for something for us to watch while we eat then?” he suggested.

“Sounds good babe!” she said, and she felt completely abuzz with excited, lovestruck energy. She had told Taako she was going to be careful, and maybe modifying an ancient summoning circle to work inside of an oven wasn’t the safest thing in the world. She was sure he would understand though.

She was sure about a lot of things now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so my fae lore might have a slight tinge of selkie vibe and also change with every fic i write that has anything to do with fae, but that's just how it be sometimes. this really was a delight to write tho, i've been on a real blupjeans kick lately. they're just so in love. 
> 
> as always thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed and happy (very late) birth to herbgerb!


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